‘GCash to market IPO to foreign investors’

MANILA, Philippines — E-wallet pioneer GCash may sell its initial public offering (IPO) to foreign investors following its decision to work with overseas banks in arranging its share sale, according to experts.

Analysts interviewed by The STAR said GCash would likely proceed this year with its longstanding plan to go public as signaled by its reported move to employ the services of some of the most reputable banks in the world.

Citing sources in a report, Bloomberg said GCash has selected JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG to arrange its share sale.

Likewise, Bloomberg named HSBC Holdings PLC and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. as some of the other banks that may work in GCash’s IPO. Bloomberg clarified that nothing is final, but the e-wallet is starting to make considerations.

China Bank Capital Corp. managing director Juan Paolo Colet said GCash might still be interested in listing here in the Philippines.

However, Colet believes that the decision to hire overseas banks as partners means that GCash is eyeing foreign investors when it goes public.

“The selection of foreign banks is not indicative of the listing venue, (but) what it tells us is that the IPO will be marketed primarily to foreign investors,” Colet told The STAR.

Further, Colet sees GCash becoming more confident in its plan to go public, and predicts that the e-wallet will do the listing this year even as the market is muddled with risks.

“Although the Philippine IPO environment looks challenging, there appears to be strong appetite for a financial technology platform like GCash, so there is an opportunity for the company to do its IPO this year,” Colet said.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan also thinks that GCash could be on its way to an IPO in 2025.

Limlingan said the e-wallet might have tapped the said banks because they give the most confidence for what could become the biggest IPO in the Philippines.

“For me, if there is a sizable number of investors and they get their desired price, GCash will list. Probably, the underwriters are still doing some bookbuilding,” Limlingan told The STAR.

Limlingan recalled that GCash has hinted at going public since 2021, and yet the e-wallet has yet to come up with a definite timeline on when it will actually do so.

Moreover, he said GCash’s owner Globe Telecom Inc. would experience fluctuations in its share prices as long as the e-wallet is unclear on its IPO schedule.

In 2024 GCash’s parent Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt) bolstered the e-wallet’s valuation by picking up a new financier in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the largest banking network in Japan.

The entry of fresh investments raised GCash’s worth to $5 billion, more than doubled its previous valuation of $2 billion. Earlier, Bloomberg has reported that GCash may be eyeing to generate as much as $1.5 billion in its IPO.